Last night was another wonderful edition of PodCats. Doug Branson and myself discussed the Bobcats huge win in Atlanta + broke down the final play that put Chris Douglas-Roberts in the spotlight with his game winning shot – I also make a case for why CDR needs to see the court more in the post-season and what that means for one current starter.

We also discussed the playoff seeding scenarios for Charlotte – it all comes down to tonight. LISTEN HERE!

Join Doug and I LIVE this Friday at 6:30 PM ET when we breakdown the upcoming playoff series for the Bobcats. LISTEN LIVE HERE!

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It’s pretty simple for both teams tonight – win and keep hopes alive that you move up in the eastern conference seeding. The Bobcats have to win and have a Washington loss in Boston in order to stay alive for the sixth seed. That’s big, of course, because it means avoiding Miami in the first round. Chicago is currently tied with Toronto in overall record, but the Raptors own the tie-breaker – the Bulls need to win tonight in Charlotte and hope for a Raptors loss in New York in order to move into the third seed.

The Wizards and Raptors both tip tonight at 8:00 PM ET, so whoever comes out on top between Charlotte and Chicago should be able to watch their playoff fate unfold live in the locker room in Charlotte.

Coach Thibs has made it very clear that Chicago will play to win tonight — “We’re playing to win. When you look at where our guys minutes-wise, total minutes-wise, health-wise, that’s what we should do.”

Coach Clifford has downplayed the seeding issue for the Bobcats recently and stated that it’s more important for this team to start playing better leading into the post-season, regardless of who they end up matched up with. That being said, everyone would like to avoid Miami in the first round so it’s safe to say Coach Cliff and the team understand the importance of winning this game.

Bulls center Joakim Noah could very possibly end up being the defensive player of the year in the NBA and he’s going to give Al Jefferson problems tonight, make no mistakes about it. For Big Al the key is to simply stay disciplined, don’t let Noah get under your skin with his emotional tactics and get him into foul trouble early.

The Bobcats will have to get more from the starting backcourt than they did on Monday to have a chance tonight. Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson were a combined 2-18 from the floor on Monday. These two guys are extremely important to Charlotte’s success in the post-season as the attention on Jefferson will only continue to elevate.

Prediction: 94-90 Bulls. Bobcats finish regular season 42-40 and will play the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs.